S. Asian women boxing

Boxing future for Muslim women

By Soutik Biswas
BBC News Online correspondent in Calcutta

At the crack of dawn every day, a wiry girl leaves her cramped home in Calcutta's squalid Kidderpore area and jogs to the lush gardens of the city's stately Imperial Library. For the next hour, Razia Shabnam goes through her paces, as early morning walkers gape at her.
"She's the woman boxer. Be careful of her!" quips one passerby.

Razia Shabnam, 23, is more than a female pugilist. Braving stiff resistance from relatives and neighbours in the desperately poor Muslim ghettos of Calcutta where women have traditionally lived a cloistered life, Shabnam made it to the big ring. Now she is India's first Muslim woman boxer-turned-coach and international referee. More importantly, she is like the Pied Piper to poor Muslim girls who are making their journey to the boxing ring and making a statement. There are over 150 women boxers in India today, but the majority of those hailing from Calcutta are Muslim girls who have come out of the shadows. Inspiring them to take up what, for Calcutta, is a rather unusual sport, is Laila Ali, the boxer-daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

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